make shift sled was helpful with reaching the entry of the cabin, there was no way to get him up over the landing with the device.
Rachel knelt just in front of him. Linking her arms through his, she pulled and lifted like her life depended on it. She managed to heave him half way onto her back. Careful not to cause more damage, Rachel slowly moved him, each step heavily labored. His heels dragged behind them, pulling the dirt as they did. Though it only took a moment to move his body inside and onto the bedding, it felt like hours must have passed.
“Gabe,” Rachel said, attempting to wake the sleeping man. There was no response.
Rachel urgently pulled the pot of boiling water from the stove top. Setting it aside to cool, she reached under the prep table in search of extra sheets she could shred and use for bandages. Feeling around her hand caught hold of something rough. Grasping it tightly, she pulled out the object. Much to her surprise she discovered a large, six inch hunting knife. She wasn’t sure if she found the weapon to be comforting or disturbing. Either way, at this point it was useful.
Based on the amount of blood that was on Gabe’s clothes she knew there was a wound, if not several, that was having trouble with clotting. There was a good chance she would need something to cauterize them with. Using her skirt as a mitt, Rachel pulled open the door to the small potbelly stove and shoved the blade into the flames.
Without hesitation she began. Grabbing the linens from their hiding spot, she started shredding. Rachel had no formal experience with a situation like this one, but prided herself as being a calm and level headed person. There was someone depending on her and panic was not an option. If Gabe had any chance of surviving he needed Rachel to keep it together.
Gathering the last of the supplies she would need from around the room, Rachel huffed and moved everything to his side. She had no silk for stitches and instead would have to use a thick thread Gabe used to mend tarps and what not. His scars would not be pretty, but he would survive, at least she hoped he would.
Rachel began by unwrapping Gabe’s arm and removing his shirt. It was quite a workout to even do simple things with his body. His unconscious state provided her with no assistance in shifting his weight.
The moment she unwrapped Gabe’s arm the blood began to flow again from his wounds. She worked as quickly as possible, cleaning and stitching. Rachel moved onto the cuts on his face and chest, only a couple requiring a stitch and most only needed cleaning.
She began to feel confident in her new found nursing skills when suddenly she was rattled to her very core. Turning Gabe over slowly for further inspection, she found a challenge that might have been too great for her. Upon closer examination of the injury on Gabe’s hip, Rachel realized she had underestimated the extent of the wounds. Rachel squeezed a dampened cloth over the area, the clumps of soil and pebbles washing away, revealing the horror underneath. Rachel gasped when she saw there was something imbedded in two large wounds on Gabe’s back. There was no way the tweezers she had set aside would be large enough to pull the objects from his flesh. The base of the items were the size of a dime and looked jagged in their texture.
Frantically she began to search the room, tossing things aside carelessly, trying to find a tool she could use to remove the implanted objects. It didn’t take her long to realize that in cleaning the wound she had cleared away the debris that had slowed the bleeding. Now lying on his stomach, the blood began to pool into the divot of his lower back. Rachel was running out of time.
Out of options, Rachel fell to her knees and grabbed the hunting knife, the hot blade slicing into his skin as if it were butter. She ran the knife between the two small circular holes, joining the two wounds into one larger one. She then reached into the widened area with her fingers; it was too late to turn back now. Pushing through the layers of flesh, she grabbed a hold of the first object with her fingertips. Pulling it free she could see it was a spike of some sort. Tossing